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MSF Condemns Kunduz Hospital Air Strikes

The Medical Charity, Medecine San Frontieres (MSF),  has condemned “in the strongest possible terms” deadly air strikes on its hospital in the Afghan city of … Continue reading MSF Condemns Kunduz Hospital Air Strikes


MSF

 Kunduz MSF hospitalThe Medical Charity, Medecine San Frontieres (MSF),  has condemned “in the strongest possible terms” deadly air strikes on its hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz.

MSF said that air strikes which lasted for over 30 minutes were launched on its hospital in Kunduz.

US forces were carrying out air strikes at the time. The NATO alliance had admitted the clinic may have been hit.

At least 37 people were seriously injured, 19 of them were MSF staff.

More than 100 patients were in the hospital, along with relatives and carers; it is not known how many of them were killed.

MSF said that all parties to the conflict, including Kabul and Washington, had been told the precise GPS co-ordinates of the hospital in Kunduz on many occasions, including on September 29.

After staff at the hospital became aware of the aerial bombardment in the early hours of Saturday morning, US and Afghan military officials were again informed, MSF said.

A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Col Brian Tribus, said: “US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 02:15 against individuals threatening the force.

“The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”

“The incident is being investigated, he added.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said that a group of 10 to 15 militants were found hiding in the hospital. The Taliban denied that any of its fighters were there.

“They were killed, all of the terrorists were killed, but we also lost doctors,” Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi said.

Head of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, said “hospitals accommodating patients and medical personnel may never be the object of attack” and commended the work of MSF.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also strongly condemned the bombing.

Head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan, Jean-Nicolas Marti, said, “Such attacks against health workers and facilities undermine the capacity of humanitarian organisations to assist the Afghan people at a time when they most urgently need it” .